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Sunday, February 21, 2016

See You on the Street

Everyone knows I'm an extrovert. I recently took a quiz to verify this truth of my personality, and sure enough, the results once again confirmed that I "relish social life" and am "energized by interacting by with friends and strangers alike."

Okay, but I still couldn't handle the social obligations of Friday evening. Here's what I was supposed to do: watch Shef's star turn as Immigration Inspector Washington from 7:30 to 9:30, supervise him while he helped to strike the set from 9:30 to 10:15, drive him to the cast party where I could chat with other thespian parents and drink a civilized glass of chardonnay from 10:30 until 11:45, at which time I would be allowed to return home and collapse into my bed.

I did all of things, except that I couldn't go into the cast party with the parents. After socializing with their children all day in the classroom and chatting with them as I waited to reserve seats in the auditorium and smiling and complimenting at intermission and again at conclusion and having conversations while the set was struck... I had to stay in my car for the party.

So, I drove to a parking lot to listen to my audiobook - Outline by Rachel Cusk, which I might not be smart enough for. I got too tired to concentrate and I had to pee, so I went to the Super America. I looked for a snack that I might want, but nothing seemed as good as a caramel sundae from McDonald's. As luck would have it, I saw a McDonald's shining like a beacon down the street.

But, by the time I had gotten back into the car and arrived at the menu, it was 11:03 and the drive through was dark. The workers waved to me unhelpfully from the window as I exited, defeated. I sat again in my first parking lot until 11:30. Then, I couldn't stand it anymore. I drove to party and texted Shef from the driveway.